Primers and PrimeViews in 2022

This PrimeView highlights the basic setup and variants of an ARPES experiment

The physical properties of a solid-state material depends on its electronic structure, which can be studied using angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES). This Primer introduces the ARPES technique and describes how different variants can be used for applications including superconductors, topological materials and two-dimensional materials.

This PrimeView highlights the steps involved in image processing and reconstruction of volume electron microscopy data sets.

Volume electron microscopy techniques are high-resolution imaging approaches that reveal the 3D structure of cells, tissues and small model organisms at nanometre resolution. This Primer introduces the different imaging modalities, specialized sample processing and key applications in biosciences.

This PrimeView highlights the best practices for synthesizing ionic liquids. The sensitivity of certain applications of ionic liquids to impurities are outlined.

Ionic liquids (ILs) can be formed from a combination of anions and cations, each with very distinct properties. However, there is no standard methodology for their synthesis. In this Primer, Koutsoukos et al. outline the considerations, advantages and disadvantages of various synthetic routes for ILs.

This PrimeView highlights the utility of glycoproteomic techniques for characterizing protein glycosylation.

Glycoproteomic techniques give information on the structure and location of glycan protein modifications. In this Primer, Bagdonaite et al. summarize these techniques, discuss best practices for their use and explore their applications, including identifying biomarkers of disease.

This PrimeView highlights the life cycle analysis and end-of-life considerations necessary for designing sustainable polymers.

Sustainable polymers are materials derived from renewable, recycle and waste sources that are themselves able to be recycled, biodegraded or composted. Mohanty et al. discuss the synthetic strategies for creating sustainable polymers and assessing their utility and end-of-life potential.

This PrimeView highlights best practices for the representation and learning of piecewise linear neural networks.

Piecewise linear neural networks (PWLNNs) are a powerful modelling method, particularly in deep learning. In this Primer, Tao et al. introduce the methodology and theoretical analysis of PWLNNs and some of their applications.

This PrimeView highlights how remote epitaxy may be used in the future to make flexible devices

Remote epitaxy is a method of growing single-crystal thin films and structures that can be made free-standing. It involves the formation of a 2D van der Waals interlayer that enables release of the grown material. This Primer describes the principles of remote epitaxy, including example applications and characterization of the 2D interlayer and epitaxial layer.

This PrimeView highlights how new live points are drawn when running the nested sampling algorithm.

Nested sampling is an algorithm for computing Bayesian inference and high-dimensional integrals. This Primer introduces the nested sampling algorithm and variations, highlighting its use across various areas of physical science, from cosmology to particle physics.

This PrimeView highlights the main hypermutation systems used for in vivo continuous evolution and outlines important applications in the biosciences.

In vivo continuous evolution is a form of directed evolution that takes advantage of cycles of rapid mutation, amplification and selection inside living cells. Molina, Rix et al. discuss best practices for designing and conducting experiments for drug discovery, enzyme engineering and fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS)-based evolution.

This PrimeView highlights the design and fabrication of organ-on-a-chip devices, from material selection to culture medium, pumps and cell or tissue seeding.

Organs-on-chips are microfluidic systems containing miniature tissues with the aim of mimicking human physiology for a range of biomedical and therapeutic applications. Leung, de Haan et al. report practical tips to inform design and operational decisions during the implementation of organ-on-a-chip systems.